Degrees Of Gluten Intolerance?

I had my first appointment with a dietician this week and even they don't know how coeliacs can be dealt with, many of them are still on a learning curve themselves as it is a relitivly modern thing.

However she did say there are diffrent types of coeliacs, the ones who really can't take anything with glutens in it and those who could tolerate some but as the problem progresses would fall into the first catagory.

The problem we have here in the UK is that you simply cannot go fully gluten-free, if you did you would starve as the vast majority of our foods have gluten in them, so for myself and many coeliacs we have to knock out as much as we can to slow down the deteriation rather than stop it in out tracks.

In the past few weeks I have found out just how difficult it is to eat out in the UK, and in a couple months I have to attend a confrence away from home and will have to take my own food supply because the hotels just don't cater for it. Even my works summer ball dosen't cater for coeliacs and there are two of us attending. we have decided to get together and make up our own menus to take with us! we shouldn't have to do this, but the UK is only just catching up with the thought of Diabeties let alone coeliacs.

With the preponderance of "gluten free" wheat starch in Europe (thanks to the CODEX standards) I would encourage you to avoid foods that have those ingredients and go with whole foods that are naturally gluten-free - fruits/veggies/meats/naturally gluten-free grains. You really can get your intake of gluten very low, though it requires more cooking or food preparation on your own.

I don't eat any processed foods, just meat, veggies, fruit and stuff like buckwheat and the gluten free type of grains. Even when I have to travel I stick with those kinds of foods. I don't know how possible that is in the UK but I have had few problems in the US.

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If all the world is indeed a stage and we are merely players then will someone give me the script because I have no f!@#$%^ clue as to what is going on!

What does not kill you makes you stronger.Nobody cares about losers and quitters never win. If you fail with the cowards then what's the message you send?Can't get it right, no matter what I do. Might as well be me and keep fu@$ing up for you. - Brian Thomas (Halloween, the greatest metal band ever!)

Ian Moore. Self diagnosed at 36 because the doctors were clueless.Started low-carb diet early 2004, felt better but not totally gluten-free. Went 100% gluten-free early 2005 and life has never been better.

The problem Holgate is that studies have shown that you can have a lot of damage done inside without knowing there is anything wrong even ingesting a small amount of gluten.
I would be very careful with this. I just don't trust that train of thought, but wish you the best!

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Nostaglia is a file that removes the rough edges from the good old days!!!!

" 15 years of it's stress!" "blood work show's a disease called celiac, but it can't be that because it's rare!" Diagnosed via blood and biopsy 2003

Not a medical professional just a silly celiac offering support, myexperience and advice

yes but the problem is when your in a country like the UK which is only just getting to grips with diabeties let alone Coeliacs it is nigh on impossible to avoid all glutens because it is hidden in so many of our everyday foods. At the moment we have to slow the progress down rather than halt it. At the moment it just cannot be done unless we all decided to trot off to the otherside of the atlantic where the problem is better understood.

What about natural foods? Fruit, vegetables etc.? It's just awful that it is so hard to find gluten-free food over there. It's difficult enough here, I can't even imagine. It seems like it would make a person not want to eat at all.

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Nostaglia is a file that removes the rough edges from the good old days!!!!

" 15 years of it's stress!" "blood work show's a disease called celiac, but it can't be that because it's rare!" Diagnosed via blood and biopsy 2003

Not a medical professional just a silly celiac offering support, myexperience and advice

Wow I feel bad for people over there that have a severe allergy to wheat...how would the survive over there? I guess there is always fruits and veggies. Even here gluten is hidden under so much but their are choices of things to eat. Maybe they will get more updated with things the more and more celiac is diagnosed there.

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KaitiPositive bloodworkGluten-free since January 2004Arkansas

Jeremiah 29:11- "For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for you to prosper and not harm you,plans to give you a hope and future"

actually, the diagnosis rate, and time-to-diagnosis is much better in the UK than in the US. and there seems to be a higher awareness of what it is in Europe in general, according to studies, anyway. :-/ (we all know that studies can tell us anything!)

either way, the US is RIFE with hidden gluten - it's not just the UK, so we do feel your frustration - but naturally gluten-free, whole foods are naturally gluten-free, whole foods around the world. :-) additionally, some online searching will lead you to a number of UK gluten-free food sites that you can order from. you'll get there with some time! :-)

The problem I am finding at the moment is that to get my gluten-free food I am having to go to at least 3 diffrent sources in order to get a balance and when costed togther I am paying double of that I would if I brought similar products in my local Sainsburys. Why I don't know, but I know cost is one of the biggest issues for me personally at the moment.

Also my doctor and dietician were honest enough to say they didn't know which packaged foods you could get that were gluten-free because so much rubbish is hidden in our foods then there's the fact that some so called gluten-free foods are prepared in factories which deal with gluten based foods...can't win either way on that one. Fruit and Veg are fine as long as they are organic but then again more money spent. We are only just catching onto the idea of buying bags of seeds and nuts so there are still only a few specialist health shops that are doing them.

It's kind of ironic that today the supermarket, Tesco announced that it was the first british retailer to exceed the £2billion profit margin. Not only are they being accused of squeezing out the small retailer and unfair trading with suppliers in the developing world, but also doctors are putting down the increase of Coeliacs and other digestive related problems down to the rapid expansion of supermarkets who offer processed packaged conveniance food, thus people cooking less and thinking less about what they are pushing into their body.